We have had in the news recently two ways to handle incompetent employees, private and public sectors.

The Veterans Administration Medical Service has faced a long-term problem of delayed appointments. This problem has existed for decades, and covers several presidents. Veterans are often facing long-term delays in medical appointments. There are numerous reports of veterans who have died while waiting for appointments. And it is not an isolated problem. VA hospitals around the nation appear to be having problems giving veterans timely appointments. Recent reports have included three hospitals in Georgia: Atlanta, Augusta and Savannah.

So what has been done about it? Thanks to civil service unions, it is virtually impossible to fire any government worker. At best, a worker may be suspended with pay until the civil service can find another place for them. There are even cases where incompetent workers are given bonuses! Meanwhile, veterans are waiting long months just to see a doctor.

Then there is the case of General Motors. It has recently been revealed that GM has delayed or ignored problems with some of their vehicles. Demands that they recall and repair these cars have been delayed for up to ten years. Numerous wrecks, injuries and even a number of fatalities have occurred due to this negligence. As a result, fourteen GM executives have been fired, a new CEO is in place and the company is negotiating settlements with a number of unhappy customers.

So, what is the difference? Problems at GM are being fixed. Incompetent managers are being replaced. Customer complaints are being dealt with. While at the VA, we hear of one investigation after another, all ending with no action taken. It goes to prove that President Reagan was right. “Government is not the solution to our problems.

As I said in a previous column: The VA medical system needs to be privatized. Veterans should be given vouchers, or a good insurance system paid by the VA, then allow them to seek medical assistance from available doctors, clinics and hospitals in their area.

Our nation is in deep financial trouble. A major part of that trouble is due to overpaid and underworked government employees. Congress needs to act now to rework all those government contracts with unions to allow managers to fire or reduce the pay of incompetent workers. We should have a total hiring freeze until the number of government workers is reduced to a reasonable level. Government workers should be paid a wage that is compatible to those working in the private sector. And those government workers who fail to perform at a reasonable level should be fired or demoted, and that includes all VA employees.

It is clear that “We the Taxpayers” are not getting our money’s worth out of the present bureaucracy. Something has to change before we have a bankrupt nation.

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/gillispieonline.

The overwhelming consensus of veterans groups which testified at the House hearings on privatizing the VA hospital opposed this move. Combat veterans have very unique health issues that normal civilians rarely have. Traumatic brain injure, post traumatic stress disorders, dioxin and other chemical and radiation illnesses. We need to fix the VA and funding needs to be provided to ensure we keep the promise to take care of our sons and daughters that sacrifice so much to preserve our way of life. The VA needs to immediately cease the policy of misdiagnosis of veterans that prevents them from obtaining the proper care for PTSD. Our sons and daughters deserve nothing less, I am ashamed of the way our government has treated those that have given so
much. It reminds me of my treatment when I returned from combat duty in South Viet Nam.

The insurance companies control our health care. The ACA attempts to put some control on that industry for the benefit of the people. The ACA had to negotiate with private industry to give them something they wanted in exchange for making some things better for the people, particularly self-employed people who could be totally abandoned and excluded or priced out of the insurance market completely. The ACA is just a small step forward to get all Americans in a position to have health care.

It is also designed to be malleable for future adjustments, revisions, additions and deletions so that our very complex, expensive and inefficient medical delivery system can be tamed and made affordable like the rest of the civilized world. We don't need to get rid of the ACA; we need to use it to make it work for everyone, citizens, businesses and professionals. That means working together in good faith rather than couching everything in confrontation and opposition so that there are only winners and losers rather than progress being made.

Government controls healthcare through CMS, Center for Medicare Services. This arm of government decides what medical services will receive payment and how much that payment will be.

Insurance companies then work with that to create policies that people will purchase. Some of those policies pay rates to healthcare providers that are greater than the the government and some policies pay less. The consumer gets to buy a policy that fits their needs. Oops, that was before ACA, Obamacare, now the consumer is forced to pay for things they don't need.

The VA system is the only health delivery system in America run and funded completely by government.

The V.A. Outpatient Clinic on hwy 29 that you are referring to is used to capacity and well managed, from my experience.

You might be thinking it is not busy since there is additional parking behind the building and that is also where the Athens, Ga. office of the State of Georgia Veterans Affairs is located.

As far as the idea of privatizing the V.A. Health Care system; I would rather see greater oversight and accountability at the existing 'troubled' V.A. Hospitals and Clinics far before I would want the private sector to take any greater role than they already do.

Case in point: The Outpatient Clinic that the previous poster had referred to, falls under the control of the Augusta, Ga. Charlie Norwood Hospital system. I thank God each and everyday that this is the situation, since each and every encounter with the Atlanta, Ga. V.A. Hospital system, or any other part of the Atlanta, Ga. V.A. system, has been a nightmare of disrespect, laziness, lack of care or concern, and direct and outright lies.

I had my prostate and lymph nodes removed at the Augusta V.A. Hospital to eradicate the cancer, and I feel confident that if I had the same procedure performed at Atlanta, I would surely have been in worse shape today than I am. I owe each and every caregiver(with one or two exceptions)that I dealt with, my unending gratitude, as they were the highest quality health professionals I have ever had the pleasure to encounter.

In contrast, I will mention the Third Party Contractors (namely QTC) that are contracted to give examinations for claims of compensation due to service connected disabilities, are notoriously inaccurate, uncaring, and extremely prejudicial in their judgement, based on not only my experience, but that of many others. If that same type of arrangement were implemented in the V. A. Hospital in Augusta, where I go to for my medical needs, I am certain that the ugly side of my PTSD would rear its ugly head rather quickly.

There is not one easy answer to solve all the problems with the Veterans Administration, in all areas, however they have been making marked improvements in many areas, while, unfortunately many other facilities such as Phoenix or Atlanta, continue to fall short of the standards set, managers still receive bonuses rewarding poor performance, and needing veterans are still put on long waiting lists to receive help, when they are, in many cases, in need of a higher priority.

Bottom line; I think the larger issue that needs to be addressed is why in the hell do we, as a nation, still feel the need to play the role of the world police, all the while we are losing more and more Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines for questionable motives.

"That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain"

I indeed use the local Veterans office on Hwy 29. I find the doctors and staff to be very accommodating and are very empathetic to your needs. It was my duty to serve in the South Viet Nam war. Some of us still understand integrity, honor and duty. We do not make every issue a partisan political talking point for our preferred party. When you have a veteran taking his own life about every hour, non partisan action needs to be immediate and a public outcry of urgency to action to proactively seek out these young kids and give them the help they deserve.

Try to go around back of this VA office to apply for benefits. Except for the male in that office, the women there are very rude and have quite the attitude. I chalk it up to the fact that they are unhappy with themselves and go on.

I now have driven around Vet Clinic Hwy 29 several times including looking back area. Wife notes I need to figure staff people cars. Just does not seem at least times I go to have packed parking lot. Wife says maybe they run a so call good ship and get people in and out. Glad to hear this clinic is helping our local vets.

It might need to be explained, for those that are not aware of how the V.A. Health System eligibility works, that not every Veteran qualifies for cost free medical care.

There are, at any given time, up to 8 Priority Groups that are determined based upon Type of Service, Service Connected Disability Level, and finally V.A. Determined Income Threshold Level.

The above may be an oversimplification, however a Google search for "VA Priority Groups" can give one a greater understanding of this Priority Group Schedule.

There are many reasons that any particular Veteran, even a Combat Veteran, may or may not choose to utilize the V.A. Health Care System.

1.) Many have developed a great distrust of any federal government ran program based upon one or more negative experiences in the military or after, with an negative initial experience with the V.A. Health Care System.

2.) There are many retirees that choose to utilize private physicians and be partially reimbursed through the TRICARE (a separate system than that for non retirees and other non service connected disabled Veterans.

3.) A Veteran may have an income that places them into a lower Priority Group (higher number such as Priority Group 8) that would require them to pay the equivalent, or even possibly more, than they might have to pay using private insurance provided by an employer.

4.) Regrettably, and I realize this is a touchy area to some, there are many Veterans that did in fact spend 'some' time in the service, yet they were discharged in such a manner that they do not qualify at all (received an other than Honorable discharge for example), yet they tend not to fully divulge this info freely to those around them. There are family members of Veterans, that have assumed for many years that their Uncle, Aunt, Brother-In-Law, Step-Father, etc... served Honorably since they have spoke many times about their experiences in the military. Yet have you ever asked to see their DD-214?

5.) Lastly, I will say from experience that a younger Veteran will often never seek medical treatment anywhere since they feel invincible, as we all have when we were younger. Even many older Veterans, that do qualify, will also neglect their health for far to many years, just as I did.

I was able to utilize the V.A. Health Care System yet chose to very seldom seek treatment anywhere, much less the V.A., even when I had fully paid health insurance from my employer. I probably only went to the doctor 2 to 5 times during a 20 year period.

I would not go to the V.A., even though I had Service Connected health issues, and figured when it got so bad I could no longer function properly I would then put in a claim, despite the many years of urging from my Father (a 20+ year retiree from the Air Force) to go since it was related to my time in combat and time in service.

I finally went in 2010, 20 years after the Persian Gulf War, since it was becoming impossible for me to continue to cope with the physical as well as mental problems associated with my tour of duty and 6 or so years time in service.

I was fortunate to have went, finally, and consider it God making choices for me at just the right time, as he often has in my life. I had cancer, and never knew it. I also had many other problems that I was not aware of what it was, or the cause, until I chose to seek treatment through the V.A., and by 2012 I was rated 100% Total and Permanently Disabled.

I chose to just keep on working and try my best to ignore or adapt to my physical and mental problems that I knew were service connected. Many of the Veterans that you might see that do not make use of the V.A. Health Care benefits, are probably doing just as I did; after all, it is drilled into the soldier to learn to 'Adapt and Overcome' from day one.

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